Somerset Trust Co Buys Shares of 866 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Somerset Trust Co bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 866 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,533 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 5,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,419,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 308.1% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 202,074 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $51,953,000 after purchasing an additional 152,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,720,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $227,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE CRM traded up $4.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $324.77. 6,283,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,604,853. The firm has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $337.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,229,213.48. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.